Blue chips faltered, however, on a mix of company-specific news, profit-taking and an expected pullback from the big advance that sent the Dow Jones industrials up 464.95, or 4.3 percent, over the previous four sessions.

"I think the investment public is really falling back in love with technology and telecom and it's been a long, long time since that's been the case," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "It's not surprising though. If this economy is going to turn around - and it's showing signs that it is - the companies that are going to do the best, the fastest are going to be in the technology sector. It's a market leader."

The Nasdaq closed up 8.26 at 2,313.85, a nearly 0.4 percent gain, for a total advance of 231.93, or 11.1 percent since last Tuesday. The index's last six-day advance ended Feb. 8, 2000.